1963 Ford Unibody - Crossing Over

You never know when the mood is going to strike. It could be something visual that rallies a thought, or a background sound, but whatever the case may be, when that bell goes off, the wheels are in motion. And oftentimes that bell comes at the strangest times. For Gregg Hill, the mood struck while visiting a show in Seattle.

For nearly 40 years Gregg had been a Chevy guy from the get-go. With several Bow Ties parked in his garage, Gregg was always on the lookout for Chevys. However, this trip to Seattle went a little differently. While walking around the show, Gregg noticed a yellow glow in the distance that struck a nerve. As he got closer, the pieces started to come together, and he noticed that the object of his desire was a Ford. But how could this be? Who cares, he thought to himself, because the dropped Butternut Yellow '63 unibody Ford was absolutely stellar.

Looking back on it, Gregg credits the unibody design for his attraction to the truck, along with all the well-executed, subtle highlights. When Gregg found out the truck was for sale, it didn't take him long to sign on the dotted line.

When Gregg bought the truck, it was already completed. The guy who built it left everything pretty much stock. About the only thing that wasn't stock was the chassis. The original Ford frame was hacked up, and a Volare front clip was installed. With a few twists on the Mopar torsion bars, the front end was brought down to the desired ride height. Out back, a set of blocks were strapped to the axle to bring down the rear. Instead of sticking with the stock Ford rollers, a set of Torq-Thrust IIs were thrown in the mix. Out back are two 17-inch rims wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber, while up front sit 16-inch rollers in BFGoodrich rubber. The difference between the rim's sizes brings up the truck's rear just a little bit, which gives the truck a mild-mannered yet defined rake. As for the rest of the truck, it's bone stock-well, everything besides the mid-'80s Chevy S-10 seat.

Although the truck was finished when Gregg bought it, there was one thing that had to go. When Gregg bought the truck it was equipped with a mild 302 backed by a C-4 tranny. Plain and simple, that combo wasn't going to cut it. What Gregg needed was more power. He ordered a Ford Racing 351 to satisfy his need for speed. With the added power, the C-4 was a no-go, so Gregg also ordered a beefier C-6 tranny with a B&M tranny cooler. Together the new 351/C-6 combo gets the truck up and moving with no problems. A custom exhaust system with Flowmaster mufflers echoes Gregg's lead foot. Although some might see Gregg's newfound love for the Blue Oval as crossing over to the dark side, we here at CCT tend to think there's nothing wrong with broadening your horizons, especially when that horizon is a killer unibody!